Hey Hey it's the ICEE Man

Heh, I've been checking out some of the posts on the phase change units. I havn't really made my way over to finding out any specs yet, but it all seems interesting. I'm wondering what type of freon they are using and what type of pressure system they are running. I'm also interested to know if they are using accumulators, and electronic or pressure switch controlled expansion valves. Hopefully the electronic. I've actually thought of building a phase change unit myself, since I have access to all of the necessary equipment. Ever heard of an ICEE machine?? Well that's my job The only thing I wouldn't have would be the cpu mount. A copper wrapped waterblock comes to mind though...lol...pipe dreams

MAN ICEE's are the sh*t i love those things. And yes you do need a copperplate but on xtremesystems there is a guide on building one i think. Good luck with that.

Cap tube used as the metering device are much more affective when using a direct die setup. As far as freon goes, some use r134a(like me), but most use r22 but requires a EPA license. But if you have access to a vacumm pump r290 (propane-the stuff used for gas grills) is a great refrigerant, its equivalent to r22 but can be bought anywhere. Water blocks with copper tops brazed on work ok, but not as good as custom made evaps, but I ran my first unit for months with a BEcooling Jagged edge and it worked fine. You should check out xtremesystems.org under the vapor phase change section as well as phase-change.com. Baker on the xtreme forums sells the baker block, a really well known evap. When you say you have access to all the equipment can you explain more on that?

Well I have access to compressors, expansion valves, freon, acumulators, reciever tanks, freon solenoids, etc. I have a freon license. Basically everything that one would need to make a freon system about a hundred times over. I work for Icee of Little Rock, and Icee machines use freon systems. We have several different types of freon systems, and a few different types of machines. We have so many machines just sitting in the shop not being used with good, usable parts. I can pretty much get anything, but I've noticed these phase change systems people are building are using smaller compressors, so I'll probably have to see if copeland makes a smaller model, and what it's rated at. Currently all of our equipment is rated 208/230.